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3 takeaways from the Syracuse win that knocks Miami out of the ACC Championship Game
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The Orange left No. 6 Miami, and perhaps the ACC, feeling blue on Saturday.
Syracuse threw a wrench into the Hurricanes ACC Championship Game plans and possibly the conference’s shot at getting multiple teams into the College Football Playoff by rallying from an early 3-touchdown deficit for a 42-38 victory at JMA Dome on Saturday.
Kyle McCord threw for 3 touchdowns to lead the comeback effort that will send No. 12 Clemson to Charlotte for next week’s title game instead of Miami. Instead of playing for its first-ever ACC championship, Mario Cristobal’s team will have to watch from the sidelines and hope they remain in contention for an at-large Playoff bid.
Here are 3 takeaways from the Syracuse win that threw the ACC title race into chaos:
Miami’s gonna Miami
Saturday’s loss continued a long Miami tradition of coming up small in big spots.
And the Hurricanes have no one to blame but themselves. Not only did they squander an early 21-0 lead, they hurt themselves with the game on the line.
Trailing by a touchdown, Miami drove inside the Syracuse 10 with just under 4 minutes remaining. But after a first down pass by Ward was batted down near the goal line, receiver Jacolby George was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set the Hurricanes back 15 yards.
Two plays later, facing a fourth-and-goal situation from the 10, Mario Cristobal opted to play it safe by having Andres Borregales kick a chip-shot field goal to narrow the deficit to 4. But the Hurricanes never got the ball back, because when given the chance Syracuse coach Fran Brown decided to be aggressive.
Instead of running the ball into the line on 3rd down and allowing Miami to call its final timeout, Brown called for a jet sweep that Tebor Pena turned for an 11-yard gain that clinched the upset victory.
Aerial duel lives up to the hype
You’d expect the ball to be in the air a lot with the nation’s top 2 passing offenses facing off against one another. And Saturday’s showdown between Syracuse’s Kyle McCord and Miami’s Cam Ward lived up to the hype with a high-octane, back-and-forth duel.
The Orange came into the game ranked No. 1 among FBS teams with an average of 361.5 yards per game with 26 touchdowns. The Hurricanes were right behind at 361.5 yards per game and a nation’s best 36 touchdowns.
McCord recovered from a slow start to complete 26-of-36 passes for 380 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ward got off to a hot start, cooled off, then finished strong to throw for 349 yards on 25-of-36 passing with 2 scores.
Shifting momentum
It’s amazing how quickly the momentum can shift in a game.
Miami grabbed it early by scoring touchdowns on its first 3 possessions to take a quick 21-0 lead and quiet the festive sellout crowd at the Dome. But Syracuse took it right back by scoring 2 touchdowns before halftime, then tying the game by scoring again just 2 plays into the third quarter.
The swing happened even quicker later in the period.
After the Hurricanes defense saved the day by forcing freshman running back Yasin Willis to fumble in the red zone to save a touchdown and keep the score tied at 28, the Orange answered right back with a turnover of their own.
And theirs went for a touchdown when Devin Grant grabbed Xavier Restrepo’s fumble out of midair and took off in the other direction for a 56-yard touchdown to give his team its first lead of the game at 35-28.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
